Tokyo Drug
by EarnestInBerlin
Summary: Read and review is all I can say and uh... X1999 or Tokyo Babylon and Legal Drug Crossover!
1. Chapter 1

One: Pink Petals

He was clad in a black overcoat as the same color surrounded him everywhere.

From the darkened skies, to the shades that conceal his mismatched eyes down to the very black shoes he wears everyday of his life.

Those very shoes accented every step he makes.

The twinkling stars up in the sky winked at him as he strolled away the shadowy alleyways and into the bright lights of the city.

All the flashes of signs and billboards were beckoning him into their vicinity which he readily ignored.

Mismatched orbs see nothing but the shady version of this defiled city with the help of his tinted glasses. A smile caressed his face with no mirth to back up the twist of his lips.

If one is observant enough, or if one cares at all, one could smell the scent of cherry blossom clinging to the hem of his garments. It lingers around him as long as he is bounded to 'it'.

No matter where he goes, the darkened red spots on the sleeves of his coat will never disappear. The array of cigarettes or the reek of booze can never overwrite the stench of death clinging to his sleeves. Same goes for the darkened red spots on his shirt.

He carries these reminders as he walked through life. The happy, kind-hearted veterinarian in the lights of day but a murderer in the darkness of the evening.

The steady rhythm of his steps never changes as he moves on to the tarnished metropolis known throughout the world as Tokyo.

White noise fills his ears, sounding off around him in various forms but they were left for deaf ears.

His head flew somewhere else and no one could tell because his shades blocked the windows to his soul.

He was musing again; this wasn't the first, nor will it be the last.

His muses were only limited to a few topics; the sakura tree, the many people he killed, the kekkai stationed in Tokyo. But only one thing flooded his mind most of the time.

His Subaru-kun.

He pondered on his white long overcoat, similar to his opposite in color alone.

He pondered on his metamorphosis from that shy naïve boy to a more understanding man.

He pondered on why his little prey hasn't been taking care of himself recently- he looked more like a stick than anything else, honestly.

What does he get by starving himself and smoking cancer sticks for nourishment?

It'd be nice to know what goes on in that boy's head. Even if they were connected, in an almost literal sense, because of the pentacles that would sometimes shimmer on the boy's hand, he on no account was provided access to the boy's thoughts.

This will lead him into another set of musings…

Are his dreams still plagued by a certain dead girl in a white ceremonial dress with violet beads hanging around her neck? Can he still see her gracefully fall, her back in a perfect arc, ever so slowly as the beads began to break and fly to different places? Does he see the bloody hole of where his hand took away her heart?

Or maybe…

His dreams were concerned about other things than the weight of the past.

Did he trade all those haunting memories with the apocalypse at hand? Was his mind consumed on the heavy thoughts of the barriers deteriorating silently while the people around, obviously, doesn't seem to notice?

He didn't know when he stopped, but when he did he was staring at the park's sign. The very same park where a bet happened, was that a few years ago? Funny, it was already long overdue, but they were still under the rules of the game of cat and mouse. Of course, he being the cat and his precious one… a precious mouse.

The edge of his lips curled up into what the whole world understands as a smile.

A very adorable mouse to say the least; he strides into the ever familiar setting of the park and was greeted by sakura branches waving their arms at him under the commands of the gentle wind.

From a distance away he could he see Tokyo Tower, ever vigilant standing out from the rest. The corner of his eyes caught the lights but they all faded away in the backdrop which was Tokyo city.

Mismatched eyes perked up in small surprise as a figure loomed over the tree that which he protects and serves under by default.

A figure of a boy, to be exact, was there. Whether he was amused by the tree or the tree pulled him, he wasn't really interested in knowing.

He didn't move away from his place, interested to see what the person was doing there.

He could've been sixteen or fifteen; his hair a shiny mane of mellow yellow, a side of his face was curtained slightly by the longer strands. It was a funny style for hair, but it really suited him. It almost reminded him of someone.

Eyes were transfixed on the ugly twist and knots the tree bears. It maybe a sakura tree but comparing it to the other trees in the park, this was by far the most hideous tree one has lied their sights upon.

However, this boy thought otherwise.

His fingers caressed the tree's ugly bearing with dazed green eyes.

His name was Kudou Kazahaya.

At first glance, he looks more like a pretty but sickly boy. Thin as a stick and was mistaken more than once as girl.

He was different from other boys, setting aside his androgynous charms, of course.

He was different from other boys because he simply had something they don't have. He has powers.

Human, thing or animal; just as long as it's touchable with magical properties beneath its surface, his powers let him see or feel them.

He has the power of empathy.

It was that same power that drew him to this repulsive tree.

He was going back to Green Drugstore- the place where he works and lives- when he passed by this thing.

Kazahaya stood for a moment.

Then he stared.

Something pulled him to the tree, maybe it was his powers that pulled him. Other than that, he felt as if someone guided him there. An invisible hand of some kind must've leaded him to this certain place. It wasn't a mere coincidence that he was here.

Even if he wanted to speculate aspects like that with fate or kismet thrown in his net of theories; his powers wouldn't allow him to.

He closed his eyes and one memory flooded his mind. Just one.

_There was the darkness; all of Tokyo seemed to have vanished into that setting of nothingness._

_There was the falling of the sakura petals._

_Then, of course, there was the boy._

_He could've been eight-years-old. He was just an innocent little boy, with raven hair and small bangs that claimed the side of his face. Surprised emerald eyes gazed at him._

_He saw this boy through the eyes of someone older._

"_Why are you here?" Kazahaya heard a voice coming from him but knew it wasn't his voice._

"_I… I … was trying… to find… Hokoto-chan…" the boy stuttered._

_He was wearing some weird white robes with violet beads hanging around his neck. His clothes reminded Kazahaya of old Japanese movies where they would show court people or ceremonial gatherings requiring them certain kind of clothing._

_Was this a memory of that kind of past? Kazahaya thought._

_If it was then why is his character wearing the standard school uniform worn by boys in his age?_

"_Hokoto-chan… is she your sister?" _

"_Y… yes, 'Ni-chan" the little boy replied._

_Kazahaya's head lifted up and he saw the falling of sakura petals from the branches of the tree._

_Whose memory is this? It obviously doesn't belong to the tree, Kazahaya mused._

"_Do you know why the sakura has pink petals?" his gaze was still on the branches above his head. He felt his lips- though not his own- curve up in a smile, but something about the real owner made Kazahaya think that it was more of a sinister purpose than just a twist of lips._

"_Why, 'Ni-chan?" the little boy asked._

"_You see…" he was standing and going to the boy, this time his gaze shifted on the boy who looked up to him with curiosity and fear. "Sakura trees usually have white petals growing from their branches…" he came to him and knelt in front of him until their faces were leveled. He could see the fear that took the boy's face as he held his small hands with his own. _

"… _But underneath each sakura tree there's always a corpse" he could feel the trembling digits in his own. "Their blood is offered to the tree. When the blood of the victim with the white of the petals comes together and they form the color that you see now"_

"_T… That's terrible, 'Ni-chan!" he didn't hold back the scared expression forming in his face._

"_It's the truth" Kazahaya felt something inside him, something close to hunger that somehow didn't belong to him. Of course it didn't belong to Kazahaya, but it doesn't seem to belong to the boy he resided in either._

"_Then I don't want the petals to be pink then" his green eyes were close to tears, but the expression that claimed his face seemed to be something like determined "I don't want people to get hurt because of a silly thing"_

_There was a moment of silence while the petals of the tree flew around them, landing everywhere and anywhere they could._

"_What's your name?"_

"_My name is…" the boy hesitated; he remembered his grandmother strictly telling him not to give away his name to strangers._

"_Don't worry" he said to the boy with a kind smile on his face, "If it'll make you better, my name is Seishirou"_

"_My name…My name is Subaru" the boy replied after a while._

"_Subaru-kun…" he said, "Do you want to play a game with me?"_

_The boy now named Subaru quickly regretted ever telling the older boy his name. The smile he received from Seishirou doesn't seem to be like the one he received earlier. It was scary in a way, though his naïve mind could never comprehend how a simple smile can be scary._

"_Do you like games Subaru-kun?" _

"_Uh, uh" the boy nodded his head slowly._

"_I have a game I'd like to play with you, Subaru-kun" Kazahaya felt the grin that crept up his face all the while never taking off his face off the already terrified boy's features._

"_I want you to make me feel something"_

_Like love, a voice in the back of his head mused._

_The child's face looked at him with such beautiful confusion that he couldn't help but drop away his grin for an actual smile instead. The small digits tried to escape his larger hands but then he hastily held on to the younger one._

"_I'll give you a year to do that"_

"_But… But how can I do that?" the raven-haired child inquired._

"_If I tell you…then that'll be coaching" he gripped the boy's hand firmly._

"_But… but… what if I-"_

_The wicked smile on his face gave Subaru a hint. _

"_This tree is a sakura tree, Subaru-kun… It needs to have pink petals"_

_Subaru's eyes widened, he tried to pull away his hand "I don't want to play that game!"_

_But Seishirou didn't seem to be interested in his pleas. He pulled the smaller boy close to him, "Too bad, Subaru-kun…"_

_As the little body struggled against his strong hold, he smirked._

"_To make sure you wouldn't get away easily…" he lifted one of the boy's hands and kissed the back. A pentacle glowed lightly before disappearing beneath his skin. The little child's tears ran down the side of his face as he desperately tried to get away. The older boy did the same thing with the back of his other hand and it hurt. It hurt with his other hand too._

"_Don't worry…" Seishirou forced the small head on his chest as he cooed the boy, "It won't hurt that much"_

_The little boy tried to free himself but slowly felt weakening though with the fact, he still struggled._

_Amidst his tears, he felt the drowsiness flooding through his system. _

_His eyes closed softly with tears still staining his beautiful features as he fell into the arms of the older boy._

"_Kawai desu ne…" he kissed the top of his head._

_Kazahaya felt being pulled away. The petals of the sakura tree swarmed around him, wrapping around him and the little boy._

There was the darkness; all of Tokyo seemed to have returned, slowly piece by piece as the building rose, the lights from the distance turning back on.

There was the falling of the sakura petals.

Then there was Kazahaya, who slowly opened his eyes.

"_This tree is a sakura tree, Subaru-kun… It needs to have pink petals"_

The words lingered in his head as he felt the seriousness in each statement.

That was very wrong of him, of that boy. He could still see the frightened face of that naïve little kid, how could anyone do that to a small child? Especially as young as the one he saw?

It was just wrong.

He turned away from the tree, unaware of the gloom that veiled his own face as well, his head heavy with his recent discovery as he walked to the direction opposite the tree.

Then, suddenly, he snapped out of his reverie and looked around him with suspicious glint in his eyes.

Something told him that he was watched.

Even though the park seemed to be deserted, he knew it isn't always doesn't have to be like that.

With his guard still on, he ran out of the park in a hurry.

The sakura petals fell the same way Subaru's tears fell.

There was a black overcoat catching the wind as he lifted a lit cigarette to his smiling lips.

"My… my… what was that?"

But behind his smirking lips, he could hear a name being announced.

He decided he didn't want to pay heed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ahay! Ang stupid! Bakit ko ba 'to ginawa? Bakit? Ano? Himala? Walang himala? Akala mo meron? SAAN? SAAN? WALA!

Don't worry, my Filipino instincts just kicked in. Oh, before reading this story, I want to send my condolence to the seventy or so people who died in the stampede at ULTRA in Manila.

Please offer a few minutes of silence for the dead.

Two: Illusion

It was raining, the drips of water running down the stone pavement. They sometimes run along from the tip of rooftops slowly following a path going back down to the ground. Blue skies were replaced by an ash-black drape where the birds didn't fly and it was hard to find a smile.

Kazahaya was in between the curtains of heaven's tears striding into the gloom of the day.

The world had taken in the darkness.

Kazahaya was lost in that darkness.

It seemed that everyone was consumed by the gloom that the rain spread. And the bleakness it has given has engulfed each and everyone in this city.

People ran pass him; all wearing black. Some wore black jackets; other people were running around in their black pants; stepping on the wet concrete with black shoes.

Everyone was carrying a black umbrella as a sort of protection from the rain.

Kazahaya had none.

There was one boy, speeding through the crowd parting people with his pace. He was in his uniform colored black. One hand held a book that covered his face as he ran in a futile attempt to shield himself from the rain.

His and Kazahaya's shoulders brushed as he passed by.

Then he sped by Kazahaya and he didn't look back to apologize in his hurry to disappear.

Kazahaya looked back, but all that his emerald eyes can see is people, draped in black.

The boy was nothing more than a remnant of a memory that was never meant to be realized.

He stopped walking but the tide of black kept on moving. It was raining still and people, some rushed away off to find some sanctuary; like a telephone booth, a waiting shed, or the nearest building where they could find a ceiling to secure themselves.

He spun around.

A sound

His eyes flashed suspiciously as he looked about.

Another one

Something or someone was moving. It didn't totally escaped Kazahaya that he was still inside a crowd and that, yes, everything was moving around. But the hairs on the back of Kazahaya's neck stood and he couldn't understand why. He couldn't understand why he feels the emotion a child feels when he thinks the boogeyman is prancing around in the darkness of his room. He couldn't understand why his heart made fast and steady beats, doing more than the usual beats at a time.

He couldn't understand but whatever it is, he could feel the need.

Whatever it is or whoever… it was after him.

Kazahaya broke into a run.

He pushed people away with a hastily added apology, he felt it coming closer.

There was something…

He ran faster, escaping the darkness and the thing that came for him.

Familiar…

'It' was there…

The rain was still pouring and it will be for the time being, yet it stopped looking like rain to him anymore. A sense of acquaintance swelled in his chest, they took form of something else but he shook off the shapes that were already outlined. He ran fast, away from the people and their darkness, away from the rain.

His mind whispered of a name that he never knew was in his head.

_Who?_

He made a sharp turn running away from a force he hasn't seen- or reckons that there was a 'force' to run away in the first place.

His nose picked up a scent; a sweet lingering fragrance of something he should know.

The feeling of terror danced in his chest; he should've been used to that feeling by now, yet each encounter with it is so fresh and raw that he fought a scream down his throat. He felt hundreds of pairs of eyes loomed over him, all of various colors; red, brown, green, black; all on him as he rushed off looking for his own sanctuary.

But there was something wrong, this terror, this fear; it doesn't feel like him. Almost as if he was being afraid for someone else and not for his own well being; that the one who should be running is not him but the person who own this fear.

It was useless to think of things like that in this kind of situation.

Situation

He stopped, he was in a part of the city where there wasn't much people, but he wasn't in an alley. He was just in another part of the city, surrounded by shops and there was even a bakery on the other side of the street.

He wanted to think he was now safe and away from…

What was he running away from?

Rationalization took his brain over or something close to it rational thinking, there was nothing to run away from the first place.

He wanted that sense of fright to be whisked away in a part of his head where he will never open or better yet, let the anxiety fuck off and die. Leave him and his sanity alone.

He already has too many problems as it is.

However his heart proved otherwise. A hand was on his chest trying to calm down his ongoing heart.

It was like a click.

He heard it in his head, exactly inside his skull; something akin to the snap of fingers kind of click. Or was it a snap?

He could die of heart attack right there and then.

All he could hear was the abnormal pace his heart took. All he could feel was the panic coming back washing his entire being.

All he think about was one thing: He thought wrong.

The rush of people toned down into an indefinite silence.

The sounds of traffic, the gossiping of women in the nearby tea shop, the flash of a car hurrying by; all summed down to that silence.

Buildings were peeling off like old paint. All coming downwards, shedding like some old reptile's skin and some were breaking into fragments all showing him one thing.

A bleak void of black

Each piece of reality Kazahaya tried to cling to was discarded and it consumed him. The darkness

It took Kazahaya as its victim.

Green eyes went wide.

An illusion, a trick of some kind, he turned and tried to analyze this all that is around; how did he get here?

Petals

The scent

They came back, but they never left him in the first place; they'll never leave him. They have no plans to.

Petals went flying about him. They knew of his anxiety and they delight in his slow pace to insanity. That's why they love to flutter in the air for a while, drowning him in their innocent-like beauty.

_Don't touch them_, he ordered himself. This piece of instruction just popped out of his head, like it was always there.

Where on earth did he get that idea?

The first petal that kissed his cheek left a mark, that lead to small trail of blood.

Kazahaya backed away protecting himself, crossing his arms across his chest and hoping the petals won't fall on him. Of course that was unavoidable. They rained down on him and there was so many of them.

_Maybe this is all a dream; I didn't go out of the store. I must be dozing off…_

But the sting of another petal on his face told him otherwise.

He backed up slowly trying to get away from the piercing petals. He held the ever increasing fear in his chest tightly with his arms.

"Leave me alone" his voice pleaded, but he couldn't tell the difference anymore. He knew it was his voice that said those words but there was something wrong. The cracking of his voice, the choice of words; they didn't belong to him. They leaked out of his lips in a way that told him that someone is inside him in now, showing him a piece of a past that should stay as a it is, a memory.

His back hit the bark of a tree, the source of the sakura petals; and they rained down on him.

He feels their softness caressing his skin the same way sensual fingers would. But the love marks they left on his exposed skin, red marks trailed with bits of blood here and there.

He sees them fluttering around his eyes, dancing to an unheard song, inviting him into their soft embrace.

He hears their chuckle, their delighted giggles filled with sinful mirth. Now their giggles were more like laughter of the mocking kind. He can't help but find their joined laughter familiar.

He smells their fragrance, so sweet and intoxicating, making his head spin in so many directions making logical thinking a chore. He was pulled over to that course, and then his body was pushed to the left.

But what really scared him was the taste of something that tasted like metal that flooded his mouth. The drowsiness caused this, he was so sick.

He cupped a hand over his mouth, he felt something silky touch his skin. Kazahaya withdrew his hand; he was wearing a velvet glove.

His other hand was wearing the same velvet glove.

His toxic filled brain couldn't fathom why on earth he was wearing a pair of velvet glove. Nor does said toxic filled brain care on something so unimportant at the moment.

Nevertheless, he knew it belonged to his hand. It was like he wore this very pair of gloves so many times before that it became a part of him. It was him.

He cupped his hand back to his mouth and threw something out. The metallic taste went along but there were remnants of it in his mouth.

Kazahaya wondered what on earth was inside his mouth that tasted so terrible. Only when he withdrew his hand did he see that he just coughed out:

"B… Blood…?"

And then on instinct, his other hand went to his chest. There was something horribly wrong.

"My beautiful… beautiful… Subaru-kun" a voice said, seducing in its own right. The statement stroked the skin near his ear and took its time imprinting each word in his confused head.

_Subaru-kun…?_

What happened? Why does he feel so heavy now?

The hand from his chest raised itself slowly up.

His lids were heavy and all he wants to do is sleep or lie down or something like that. His body was shaking terribly, his legs began to wobble and he was near to falling.

There was something wrong.

So terribly, horribly wrong

He felt the gaping wound in his chest, drenching his white shirt he wore with red instead.

He chocked.

He gasped.

Or was it the other way around?

Both of his hands were delicately covered in red, hot, thick, blood.

His own blood, blood that came from his body

His eyes couldn't believe what was right in front of him, of what was right in his own hands.

Green eyes went round in great astonishment.

How did this happen?

How did he not feel it?

How?

How?

He wanted to ask but his vision was blurry. He can't die. He wasn't dying.

But, it looked like it.

Kazahaya knew he was careless, he knew he was stupid; but he couldn't be this ignorant. There's a hole in his chest, the one where his heart is supposed to be- or used to be… he couldn't just… not… know…

"…Ah…"

This was not right.

"…Hurts…"

He can't die now.

"…Not… now…"

And he went left to right like a drunken man who took in more bottles than intended. His legs crisscrossed before letting him fall to the ground, knees first.

He is not dying.

Yet the darkness invited him willingly.

_I thought I had you there. _

_Hmm…_

_He looked a bit like you, don't you think?…with deep soulful eyes… _

_But no matter…_

A cigarette butt was smashed by a foot covered in a black shoe.

A/N: Oh my… is he dead? Is he dead? Oh no! What a horrible story! The author should die painfully with her eyes pulled out of their sockets, her tongue tied to knots, and her body beaten to a bloody pulp!

Oh wait… I wrote this story…

Oh my…

Read and review, ne?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: People here are so nice! I was actually waiting for a best friend of mine to at least read one of my other stories but she never read them. Bitch… Ah… I feel kind of… touched!

Smile, for the world is a pretty place!

Three: Black

Subaru reached his apartment late that afternoon, not that anyone can tell it was late in the afternoon, the rain made it look later than that.

The keys started to jingle as he took them out of his pocket. He twisted them left to right in the keyhole and there was the sound of a click. This was the confirmation along with the sudden open of the door to Subaru that he can come in.

There was no coat to throw aside because he didn't bring his long white overcoat with him.

The door was closed, locked and- never to forget- bolted, for obvious reasons, of course.

Running his free hand through wet hair, he let himself fall on the couch. His other hand wasn't free because it was holding a book.

A black book; no title on the front, no synopsis of the sort on the back

Just a simple book with nothing to boast or brag.

Subaru relaxed to the comforts his couch could give him. He smiled for a little while before flipping the book open.

How could he be so stupid? A book, a book of no great importance, had made him do this.

He remembered running through the city just to find this book. It was absurd; books were never a part of Subaru's life. The only books that even seeped through his life were textbooks in Algebra and Biology as well as some spell books that were forced on him by his grandmother.

He read along the lines.

He saw this book the other day after an exorcism. Details attached are too tiring to reminisce over, so he doesn't think about it.

It was on a shelf, he could see it from the outside with the glass window to separate them.

Its simplicity caught him.

That was a couple of weeks ago; every time he passes by this certain bookstore, the book would still be there waiting for him. Patiently sitting on that shelf

When he got up from bed today, he sees the book in front of his eyes.

He tried to keep it out of his head but when he managed to see it fade away, he heard the jingle of a bell. He was already at the store's doorstep.

Funny but true, the body doesn't really need the brain to do the thinking sometimes.

It's the first time in the longest that Subaru has been in a bookstore. They were never one of his stops anyway. He and his sister would stop by only to buy textbooks or fashion magazines that littered Hokoto's room.

He doesn't have to think about the reason behind; without even the aid of thoughts he walked to the shelf.

The book was still there, expecting him to pick it up.

The spine offered no identification, same with the back and the cover.

He paid, the employee beamed at him like every ordinary employees do, and he left the store with indifference; as if he never entered it in the first place. The only evidence of him gracing the place with his presence is the book in his thin fingers.

It started to rain. A bit of a drizzle as a start, really, so at first he didn't gave the sudden bit of downpour much thought.

_I._

_I have a feeling that inside you somewhere, there's somebody nobody knows about._

_Alfred Hitchcock and Thornton Wilder, Shadow of a Doubt_

He wanted to say something sarcastic.

That's when the drizzle stopped playing and the small rumble of thunder zigzagged across the sky.

He looked up and he saw a sky of gray. A drop or two on his face which gave him the signal to stop staring and start walking; so stopped and walked.

The walking was more of a fast walk. Then he when he encountered the fat drops on his body then did he start to run more on intuition than anything else.

Not that he needed anything to tell him to pick the pace.

The body doesn't really need the brain that much, hm?

The boy plowed through the crowd, no need to go jumping from building to building now; his apartment wasn't that far-off.

Everyone was carrying an umbrella, mostly black, whether it was some trendy 'in' thing; but it seems that everyone was wearing black.

He ran and ran.

Not caring about the clothes people wear or the theme they suddenly adapted or the black shoes they wore.

Black just reminds him one thing.

It reminded him of…

…

…

…

The book in his hands, he decided.

He passed by another boy. Subaru was the type of person who'd spend half an hour apologizing for the most mundane things. But with the rain drenching him wet to the bone and only a book to keep cover, he didn't stop or look back.

The most that happened was their shoulders brushed.

Subaru knew he should at least turn to see if there were any items he knocked off.

But when he looked back the boy was lost somewhere in the crowd and he has already sunk deep in that sea.

The steady pitter-patter rain knocked on his window, begging him entrance.

It didn't matter now anyway.

_Lesson 1_

_Honesty is of the utmost importance_

Little did Subaru knew, it mattered, but not to him anyway.

_Your husband doesn't know that you're writing this. It's quite easy to write it under his nose. Just as easy perhaps as sleeping with other people…_

Subaru wrinkled his nose in a way that would make Seishirou say how cute 'his Subaru-kun' is.

Subaru was safe in his apartment with the falling drops making noisy sounds on his glass pane.

Green eyes looming over words that formed statements which quickly melted into a group of sentence.

The more sentences he reads, the more they become a paragraph. The first chapter consists of just one paragraph.

Subaru was safe in his apartment.

But Kazahaya wasn't.

The last sentence read:

_But no one will ever know you are, or what you've done, you've always seen as the good wife._

Subaru snorted.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

Rikou Himura was tall, had black hair that crowned around his head and green eyes that watched over the store with an indifferent stare.

Rikou Himura was sixteen but has the mind- and looks- of someone older. He works at the Green Drugstore with another boy around his age who could be easily mistaken as a girl than anything else.

That boy's name was Kazahaya Kudo.

Rikou Himura was Kazahaya's room mate and savior. Though Kazahaya would rather deny the last fact, there was no point in lying. Whenever he was in trouble, the first and last person to be there was Rikou.

No matter how trivial or how dangerous or how sticky a situation maybe, Rikou was there to save him before he falls into an even stickier problem.

Kazahaya would be grateful but he wasn't.

How can he when Rikou was a complete dickhead?

Every morning at the crack of dawn, a foot would find it way on his stomach, crushing what's left inside his body. That would be accompanied with an evil retort from the bigger of the two and a laugh that says 'making-fun-of-you' all over it. The raven-haired boy would always pronounce that he should be thankful, without him Kazahaya wouldn't be alive and wouldn't be having a job right now.

Yet, Kazahaya doesn't feel grateful. He hates Rikou, with every fiber in his being. Especially after encountering that memory in the park- he hasn't told anyone yet, he doesn't see the need to- he hates Rikou more.

Rikou wondered what happened to Kazahaya these pass few days. He came back to the drugstore from a walk and he… changed all of a sudden.

He is quieter now and when he does get mad, no insults, no shouting or kicking. All he does is glare at him for a few seconds and resumes stacking items on the shelves.

Rikou knew something happened to him on that 'stroll' of his. Every time he steals a glance at Kazahaya's green depths, he can't see the naïve, spunky, loudmouth anymore. He sees someone older; his eyes have gone a shade darker.

But somewhere inside, Rikou knew Kazahaya would be back.

Today, he made another pass at Kazahaya, just to see whether the boy is the same dork he loves to tease. Instead of going on a screaming fit that would last for about half an hour and drive a few customers away, Kazahaya didn't blow.

He stood.

He looked down on the floor and looked up at Rikou.

Rikou wanted to take back what he said.

His eyes, there were not flashed up in anger.

His face, it wasn't flushed up red in pure rage.

Instead, he looked at him with a sad expression, hurt flashed across his emeralds. The pain, the sadness, it looked at is it was there all along. As it was a part of Kazahaya that just manifested itself now

'Sorry' was the last word between them before the boy ran away, pulling his apron off in the process and throwing it the floor.

The rain started to fall, he wanted the boy back.

He worries.

Because from the moment he heard the jingling of the door's bells, to the sudden change of the whether from sun to rain and still not a hair on the boy's head appeared knew he should be worried.

Not that he ever worries over Kazahaya.

Okay, he worries about Kazahaya on a daily basis but that's what you get for living with the same person for the last three hundred sixty five days. He worries about Kazahaya, but from the other's point of view, it was another show of Rikou's so-called none existent Superiority Complex. Well, that's because Rikou loves a good façade. Everyone wears one; they need to hide a few things away from the world once in a while.

Kakei has his private smile.

Saiga hides behind his black, trademark shades.

Kazahaya used his clueless sense of nature fool everyone that he was okay- that until recently…

Was the real Kazahaya that gloomy?

Was the real Kazahaya hiding behind the shadows?

Who would ever think that Rikou, _the _Rikou Himura, would over get worried over a stray? A feisty one, he added as he chuckled.

Kakei thinks so. Insert trademark enigmatic smile here.

Saiga smirks. Insert trademark devilish grin.

Kazahaya pouts. Insert trademark screams of 'idiot' and 'lug'.

But there was no Kakei to twist his lips with his secretive beam. Saiga can't flash up any of his perverted grins because his presence was absent. Kazahaya walked out the store a good few hours ago, so any chances of hearing a few obscenities is a flat zero.

The store was bare of any living being except for Rikou.

How lonely…

He'd give anything to hear someone shout anything in his ear.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

"What did you see?" smoke curled up in the air as he took a deep drag from his cigarette.

"The Sakura Star"

"Is he alone?"

"No, he's not"

"He has company? A victim then"

"If he was, then he should've been dead…"

A pause, he was thinking for words, "I'll bet it's that boy, the Sumeragi head"

Saiga raised his brows when Kakei looked at him, he was wrong again.

"If not the onmyouji, then who?" a bit annoyed at the fact that he hasn't been hitting the striking zones.

"Kazahaya"

Saiga could've swallowed his cigarette but he didn't; he kept his cool. If Kakei isn't panicking, then he shouldn't.

"Aren't we supposed to be… panicky or something?"

"Don't feel like it" Kakei smiled, "And I don't like getting jumpy, it's not me"

"Ah" another smoke forms the air and Saiga could clearly see the shape of an elephant… or was it a goose? He wanted to take his dark glasses off and looked a bit closer- now it looked like a rabbit- but decided against the thought.

It didn't really matter anyway. Puff, now it looks like a deformed dragon.

"Shouldn't Rikou go and fetch him?"

"No, there's no need for that"

"What makes you say that?"

"I'll tell you… some other time, 'til then you can go on guessing what animals the puff from your smoke makes" _Looks more like a cross between a parrot and donkey_, Kakei added thoughtfully.

Kakei exited.

"Sadist"

Was that Waldo?

Saiga looked at his cigarettes and decided he'll finish the pack later. He stubbed the one he was having.

A/N: Okay, I'm stopping. This is getting stupid. But it made me happy though. LOL

Actually, book is real and its cover is orange and yellow. I'll give anyone a cookie if you can guess what the title is! I just want to thanks the nice people who review me! Especially T.N. and Kiwi! Kag si Rachel! Gin basa mo gali?


	4. Chapter 4

Four: Dark

Subaru read too much. Now the book was a part of him, it was his soul. His very own bible, the only source of comfort he could find.

Never mind if it was a book for girls.

Never mind if it was a book for girls with advices at the start of every chapter on how to be a good wife.

Never mind if it was a book for girls with a tale riddled with sweet seduction and a cheating wife who got tired of her lousy husband.

And, no, Subaru wasn't going to go around and find himself a guy in whom he can let it all out. He wasn't like that.

Subaru was bounded to Seishirou and no ring was needed to be produced for their relationship.

All he needs to show are the ever glowing pentacles at the back of his palms.

He doesn't think of it much as a relationship but, what other term can he use? And there's no one else anyway. Much to his mortification no can replace Seishirou. He knows that he was just a toy and that someday, Seishirou would get sick of him and that he will be flung away like trash.

Yet, while he was under the influence of the Sakura Star he wants Seishirou to see. He wants Seishirou to know; never to underestimate the Sumeragi Head.

Especially this Sumeragi Head

Seishirou believed he was not up to taking another life. That is why he must grow stronger. But deep inside there was something else that yearns for another thing altogether. He wanted to shun away the voice that pollutes his mind of such thought. Nevertheless, he fears that it's the truth.

Now he tries to forget it ever occurred in his head.

Seishirou killed the most important person in his life! He killed Hokoto, for goodness' sake! He crippled his grandmother and their clan has been off trying to exterminate his family all these centuries, and on top of it all Seishirou wants to kill him! What more reasons can there be?

But Subaru knew what.

And Subaru can't say.

Because it was his duty as head of his clan and it was his personal choice to do the thing that is close to what's right. The lesser evil…

Subaru walked along with the crowd that is the people of Tokyo city, crossing across the street as swiftly as he can.

He looks at a fax that he received yesterday.

As he did, the air flew pass him and his white overcoat danced to the wind.

He lifted his head, a bit startled.

He almost picked up the scent of sakura.

And all he had to do was look left; there was a girl a few feet inches. She was showing her friends some kind of cologne in a pink, glass container.

"… It's the scent of sakura, the newest in line" she smiled, "Don't you think it smells sweet?"

Subaru wrinkled his nose as he passed by them.

It won't smell that sweet if they knew what was lying underneath the trees.

And even as he tried to dissuade his head with that thought, he couldn't help but think:

Was the lesser evil what he _really_ wants?

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

Rikou looks up at the starry night while the breeze plays with his hair in an almost teasing manner.

Rikou used to play hide and seek with Tsukiko when he was still six years old, when _he _was younger.

They played that game when they were still kids.

When _he _was still a kid

Though it was hard to believe, Rikou used to be kid once in his life. He used to be naïve, annoying and carefree too.

That was a long, long time ago, obviously.

That was before everything.

Everyday, under a big sakura tree in a park, he would always count one to ten and Tsukiko would giggle away, off to find a good hiding place.

Sometimes, by the bushes or behind the trees, another time pretending to be a passerby… she was a clever girl.

And Rikou loved her for that.

Her squeals would die down when Rikou declare he'll come looking for her.

And he'd always find her, always. No matter how hard she tries to be quiet behind the bushes or how hidden she may be or how clever and smart the boy says she is.

Rikou would always catch her.

And they laugh and snigger as they poked each other around for a while. They were kids back then, they never knew of true love and of destiny until they were older. Such things were too 'yucky' or 'mushy', that was what they believed.

It's always the same; he'd find her, the results never change.

But this time the rules of the game have changed.

Now, he can't see her. He can't find her no matter how hard he tries. He looked everywhere but all he can see is a room with blood painted across the once white walls.

He wanted to believe that this was some big joke, another of their childish games of 'hide and seek' on a larger scale and Rikou will forever be 'it'. But, he doesn't want to be 'it' anymore.

He's scared of playing that game now.

It's always the same, the results never change… and that's what makes it scarier.

And now he was 'it' again.

He goes out of the store maybe in a vain attempt to find Kazahaya. But he would never allow himself to think that, not even in the private domains of his mind.

Yet, he searches for the boy. And Kakei would smile at him every time he comes back to the store. Rikou doesn't talk to him nevertheless Rikou has the nagging feeling that he knows where Kazahaya is. But Rikou will not let a stray dominate him because Kazahaya will someday leave them somehow, someway and he doesn't need their- especially Rikou's-permission to leave. It's just the way things are.

Kakei doesn't seem to mind at the absence of their employee. And he slipped to Saiga once of employing someone. Rikou intervened and said maybe they should wait.

So he waited and waited for a couple of days.

And all that waiting only produced one thing: nothing.

Rikou walks out that night; he felt the breeze caressing his cheek. In an attempt to humor himself, he pretends that it was Tsukiko caressing his cheek. But every time he does, he sees another hand creeping up at his face. He stopped dreaming of long black hair and sees short blond locks. When he goes 'searching', he would love to pretend that the air was Tsukiko. Yet, it all seemed wrong to Rikou, he'd almost feel digits on his face but they don't feel like her digits anymore.

When the air dances around him and they'd pass by his lips as if to steal a kiss. He can't see Tsukiko anymore. He doesn't feel Tsukiko's lips on his lips anymore.

Tsukiko wasn't the one with the wind's name after all.

Rikou doesn't want to play 'hide and seek' anymore.

He's sick of being 'it'.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

_It was darkness._

_It was darkness again._

_It was always darkness._

_It was always darkness, combined with the cold._

_It was death, always a fickle friend._

_And Kazahaya held himself. He was trapped in his own being, his legs upon his chest with his arms draped over them. He closed his eyes and was kept in a darkness of his own._

_What difference does it make when he opens his eyes?_

_All he can and all he will see is the gloom. And what does it matter anyway? He was just a being trapped suspended in the web of the darkness. His head was bowed down; he couldn't bring himself to open his tired eyes._

_Death was like being stuck inside a freezer, your hands and legs they get frostbitten. Then they slowly, piece by piece, they fall like Tetris pieces. It all starts below; they break like glass and shatter. They shimmer as they crack, most similar to the stars that dance up on the sky. _

_Those stars, maybe they were pieces of a broken star too; Kazahaya thought in silent bitterness._

_First the feet then legs would follow, all in a very slow manner. But it never hurts, all you feel is nothing._

_All you see is nothing. _

_You can hear them break apart and then it would be a matter of time before it reaches his chest. _

_Kazahaya didn't want to open his eyes, nevertheless, he felt the tug at the top of lids. He resisted it because he knew that if ever his eyes were to open, he would see something he wouldn't at all like._

_Yet, he yearned to see himself now, even if all he might see is his body ever and leisurely being destroyed by whatever entity has forced this upon him._

_And so, with all his will and a small flicker of hope in his slowly disappearing chest, he opened his heavy eyes._

_And he didn't like what he sees._

_He wanted to scream, as to let out the fear that was creeping in his being or what was left of his being._

_He could've screamed but the voice in throat disappeared like parts of his body._

_His mouth was open and words didn't go out like they used to._

_Sakura petals_

_His dilapidating body was turning into a sea of sakura petals. _

_And his none existent screams, they never echoed here._

_Maybe if Kazahaya was to look even a bit closer, he could see a hint of red somewhere. _

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

Kazahaya couldn't scream in his terrifying dream but he did in the real world.

When he woke up, he screamed. He didn't stop screaming as the memory of the nightmare still lingered in his already confused head.

He couldn't stop screaming.

He covered his face with his hands and continued. Then tears fell and he couldn't stop, even the danger of a sore throat didn't seem to matter at all.

His delicate frame was shaking with cries of hysteria and he shook over and over.

He held on to himself, trying his best not to let the last pieces of himself go down just like that. But they slipped in between the gaps of his finger and morphed into sakura petals.

It started again and petals wouldn't leave him be.

They tried taking his sanity, now they're off to get his life.

A door burst open, funny how Kazahaya never noticed the door that was in front of him.

And his existent screams, they ran down the halls, entering nearby rooms. His screams produced results, there was a person writing in her pad now she has to do it again. A shatter of glass in the other room, as a bowl of liquid went falling to the white floor.

People ran pass the frame and as they filed in they surrounded his bed. Hands, lots of them, took his limbs. They tried to straighten his body back on the bed. Most of them were women, some with a cap on their head and all was wearing white. He resisted their touch as he kept on his bawl.

He threw his head back and kicked. Most of the people around, before making contact with his body, were neat and tidy. Their hair used to have neat buns on the back of their heads and their uniforms was crisp and white. One of the women caps fell from her used to be orderly hair. But she didn't make any attempt to pick it up as her hands were holding on to Kazahaya's legs.

One of his arms was forced down on the soft mattress and he panicked as he saw a staff with a syringe in his hands.

He heard a man's voice telling him to calm down, in a way that seemed strained. But his voice, their voices, and any other sounds, they were all drowned out by the shrieks that he so longed to emit.

He felt the needle on his arm.

It took a while but the drug ran in his veins and filled his arteries.

He was being devoid of the light that he longed and tried to fight at least, just to stay awake. Yet he was being knocked back again in that place he feared. The hands slowly let go of his legs, arms or whatever part of his body they been holding on to.

And his head spun, he could not clearly see the people. He could hear their mutters, saying how sorry they felt for him. But their faces, their faces were like white meshes.

They had no eyes, nose, lips or whatever that made the face. Their bodies were melting away into white goop. But even with all that, he could still see one figure. Just one figure

The drug was already hitting his brain and he was already falling back to the pillow that has been carrying his head. But the figure caught his draining attention, it was a black figure.

His body and head contrasted those who were in the room so it wasn't that hard spotting him at all.

But that was all Kazahaya remembered and he found himself engulfed again.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

It was already the closing of the day when Kazahaya woke up. The stars have dotted the heavens and twinkled in delight as they shone and gave poets something to write about.

When Kazahaya woke up for the second time, he was less noisy than before.

In fact, he wasn't making a sound; not a groan or a word escaped his lips. His body was riddled numbness that made moving an unpleasant task to bear. So he kept still, letting the bed embrace his figure.

There was no headache now that he has awoken (again), but he didn't feel quite right.

His blood kicked into gear and was making rounds around his body again. As he looked about, all he sees is white; white walls, white sheets, white flowers on the table beside his bed and he was even in a white hospital gown.

"Ah, the screaming siren awakes…" a voice cuts through the air. Kazahaya, of course, was surprised, he didn't expect company yet how can he not?

This time, with all blood in all the necessary places he quickly bolted.

There was a man at the frame of his door.

He was black. Technically, he was wearing black, he was not black himself. Head to toe he was covered in that dreaded color, only his white skin contrasts the clothes he wear.

His hair was black.

His coat was black.

His shoes were black.

His glasses were black.

Kazahaya wanted to laugh. Kazahaya wanted to cry. So he did both.

"What… is going… on?" his legs nearing his chest, and hands were twisting about his blond hair. He tried to think, and realized, what is there to think? He tried to open his mind but all he could see, feel was darkness.

Footsteps before the creaking of springs and the stranger accompanied him on bed.

"Anything you'd like to share?"

"I'm… so… confused…" Kazahaya muttered in along with broken tears. "All I could see… All I could hear… They're after me…"

"After you? What is?" the man in black asked him.

"I… saw… blood… and petals…" and at this Kazahaya raised his head tears stained his face, he threw his arms wide in a crazed daze, "Everywhere! They came from nowhere! They want to kill me because I saw what I wasn't supposed to see…"

He looked at the man; he knew he was looking stupid. Kazahaya knew the man must think he's loony, but he couldn't tell dark shades were hiding away the man's eyes.

"But it's not my fault, right?" he clamped his hands at the man's shoulders, "I didn't do it on purpose! I… I was just passing by…"

A frown creased the man's face.

"What exactly did you see?"

"I don't know…" Kazahaya said. "I saw a child… a boy; he was with another boy… They played a game… and… and…"

"And…?"

"I forgot their names, but I never forgot what they talked about. They talked about the sakura trees in Euno Park and how…" the blond boy gulped, "… Blood made the petals of the sakura pink…"

Kazahaya looked at the man's face again.

He knew he doesn't believe him.

"Please believe me! That's what he told the little boy! If I don't look for that boy now, he might be hurt or he be bullied by that cruel teenager again…" his tears fells down the side of his cheeks and clamped the shoulders tighter, "… or worse, he might be dead…"

Even if the blond didn't know it, the man clad in black searched his eyes. He looked at the green orbs for the next few minutes. They were too familiar, all too similar to his and he finds that he does not feel comfortable with the fact.

"How are you sure he's not already dead?"

"Because…" Kazahaya slowly let go, "I…" _don't want to believe he's dead _"… I…" and it always end this way and the words never escaped his lips.

Kazahaya knew somewhere out there, the boy was still struggling. Whether he was still a child in the same white robes or a teen that Kazahaya had meet on the street that he'd never cared for… He just wanted to believe…

He heard a sigh and then he raised his bent head.

For the first time, of their short meeting, the man took off his black glasses. There was a look in the man's eyes as he stared out the window. Kazahaya didn't bother looking out the windows, it doesn't matter at all what the man sees. Whatever he was looking beyond the walls, the building, beyond the black drape of the evening sky was his business.

"I'm sorry… I know you don't understand and I-"

"I used to know someone who was like you" he said, gaze still lingering out the window.

Kazahaya's head was bowed down, and he managed to smile just a little while.

"My name's Sakurazuka Seishirou" the man now named Seishirou smiled at him. As Kazahaya looked up, he sees mismatched eyes. Of course, it surprised Kazahaya, how many times can you meet a person with these kinds of orbs? One of the eyes, Kazahaya noted was gray and the other was red.

Seishirou chuckled at his astonishment.

But he had to stop when a gentle hand stroke his face. His face never betrayed him of emotions, he was drained of it all anyway.

He looked at the face of the youth, and even with all that said. He still feels a bit, just the smallest of shock in his being.

Green eyes bore at him, now when he has lost the safety of his glasses.

Being the Sakura Star he must not let it show; and of course, being used to this kind of thing the façade managed to stay still.

Why does he have to be like _him_ in approximately every way?

Two hands were already on his face and the boy's eyes were clouded almost as he if was in a trance. The hands were studying his face, as if he was trying to memorize the shape of his nose, his lips, and his face with his hands the same way blind people act.

Seishirou let carry on whatever he was trying to accomplish by groping his face.

But of course, even the Sakura Star couldn't fathom what is happening.

He looks at the boy in the eyes too and all he could see was confusion.

"_Seishirou… Seishirou-san…_"

But of course, even the Sakura Star was allowed a few surprises once in a while.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

Rikou looks up.

The stars disappeared.

He knew he has failed.

He lost most traces of hope in his heart.

And as he looks out to the city from his point of view in the park, he started to scream at the sky.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

Subaru looks up.

The stars disappeared.

He wants to believe.

He knows what he wishes for and it hurts to know.

And as he looks out the city from his point of view in his dimly-lit room, he started to cry in silence.

**---Daily use of drugs may cause poisoning—**

A/N: That's a bit of a weird ending if you ask me. Oh yeah… Thanks for reading my other story, The Bunny Book, Tri! That's my favorite at the moment! Don't you all think it's sweet? I think I'm going to have a tooth ache…! Also, thanks for the reviews!


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